


"I Don’t Know You, but I Want You All the More for That."

by Lemon_Boy_Kaden



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Bisexual Disaster Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bittersweet Ending, Dorks in Love, Gay Male Character, Highschool AU, Idiots in Love, Kinkance - Freeform, Kinkance Zine, Kinkance Zine piece, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lance (Voltron) is a Ray of Sunshine, Lance likes to flirt, M/M, Modern AU, Play time babey, Rarepair, Ryan is flustered, Theatre, Theatre AU, Voltron RarePair, highschool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-21 07:49:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19998436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemon_Boy_Kaden/pseuds/Lemon_Boy_Kaden
Summary: Ryan is a techie, and bad at people. He doesn't do people, and he's new in town. Though Lance changes that, all with a single roseMy zine piece for the 'In My Scope' Kinkance zine! Had a ton of fun writing it and a ton of fun getting to know everyone!





	"I Don’t Know You, but I Want You All the More for That."

Ryan fidgeted restlessly, waiting for his cue. He was backstage for their first dress rehearsal of the play, and he was nervous. He wasn’t even going on stage, he was on lights and he liked it that way. He liked to have more control than someone on stage normally had, considering the frequency of accidents they had. Just two weeks earlier some poor kid had fallen off the set and had to go to the hospital because his elbow was dislocated. Though he figured it’d be a whole lot more interesting down on stage than it was. He was just following along with his own script in the lighting/sound booth above the heads of everyone else, another techie he vaguely knew as Pidge – he’d heard Katie too, but she responded to both for some reason – beside him in the booth on sound, intently focused on her soundboard.  
That’s how he spent most, if not all his afternoons now, from three until five. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do anyways, so he just dealt with it, and did as asked. He helped when it was needed, and stayed out of everyone’s way, wanting to just make sure everything went smoothly. It was nice to see how well everything was going. He knew a few kids, like Lance McClain, though it was a bit hard to not know him, with how loud and excitable the kid was. It was endearing to Ryan. He seemed like a really sweet guy, and though he didn’t ever plan on saying it, he was cute. Lance was lanky, tall and had tons of faint, barely visible freckles, which honestly just added to his adoration of the actor. He was good, and made for a very convincing pirate, though Ryan had a feeling it was because he was so enthusiastic about being a pirate. He looked like he was having fun, and it helped the time until opening night fly by, until it was there. Soon enough Ryan was watching the crowd be fascinated by the play, little kids cheering and whooping loudly, on the edge of their seats, and parents smiling fondly. It felt great, all the hard work had paid off.  
The last show came and went much too fast for Ryan’s liking, ending all too soon. He was just getting into it, happy to run the show. There would be an after-party for all the people who were a part of the show, and Ryan was considering skipping it but his parents wouldn’t be home for dinner, and there would be food. Pizza was better than instant noodles, so he went. He didn’t really know anyone even after the show, he didn’t click with many people so he spent the majority of the ten minutes he was actually there standing in the corner, eating a slice of cold pizza, and zoning out entirely.  
“Hello?” a voice startled him, dragging him back to earth with a jolt. It was Lance, standing in front of him, smile growing on his face once he got Ryan’s attention. “Why’re you over here by yourself?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. It was startlingly cute.  
“Don’t know many people,” Ryan said, shrugging. He was used to it by now, having had to move to this city in the middle of summer.  
“Well, I brought you this” Lance said, holding out a flower for Ryan, and smiling brightly at him. “For doing the lights, we wouldn’t have a show without the techies after all” he smiled sweetly. The other took it, trying to keep the awestruck look out of his eyes as he stared at the flower. It wasn’t much, just a single blue rose, but Ryan was floored he’d been given it at all. He looked up and thanked Lance, trying to keep the blush on his face to a minimum. He couldn’t help it though. A cute guy gave him a flower, of course he was flustered.  
“Me and my friends are going to a diner nearby and eating there before we go home, you wanna come with? It’s six of us, including myself” He suggested. Ryan was about to say no, but his parents’ words echoed in his mind, telling him to go socialize.  
“Sure, just let me text my parents,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. He internally cursed himself for it but Lance was unfazed. He nodded and pulled Ryan along by his hand as the other frantically grabbed his bag, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He was as flustered as he could get at this point, and stumbling over his feet. Lance finally let go of his hand and brought him to the parking lot where the two leads from the play, Shiro, and Allura were waiting with two other techies – Pidge and Hunk – and some kid Ryan didn’t know. They were talking and shot them both bright smiles when they came over, save for the one Ryan didn’t know. Though he didn’t seem much for smiling.  
“Can he come with?” Lance asked, already pulling him closer as Ryan tried to step back, away from the group. When the others nodded excitedly Lance whirled around, beaming at him, and it felt like Cupid had just shot him with an arrow. His poor heart couldn’t handle how incredibly handsome and adorable Lance looked, smiling so brightly. He buried himself in texting both his parents, and when he got an okay from them he gave them a thumbs up. They had to sort out the seating issue, and decided to put Ryan in Allura’s car where Lance usually sat, and Shiro let Lance ride on his motorcycle, which he seemed to be very protective of.  
They went on their way, and Allura introduced everyone, though he knew Hunk and Pidge already. He learned that the other one was named Keith, and he’d seen him around the school but never knew his name. By the time they got to the diner Pidge had gotten Keith to start talking, by poking fun at him the whole way. It was a lot of fun, Ryan hadn’t ever really been with close friends since he moved, which he realized had been about five or six months since then. It felt like forever ago, but he felt a bit better now that he was with a group of people who were so easily letting him in. He had Lance to thank for that. For the rest of the night Lance did his best to make Ryan feel included, and they learned they lived close to one another. The other offered to walk him home, smiling that bright sweet smile that Ryan was getting more and more addicted to.  
They left after everyone else, long after dark. The street-lights cast them in dim yellow light, their shadows stark black against the ground in contrast. It was nearly silent apart from the lapping of waves on rocks in the distance, and their own feet, but neither felt the need to fill the silence. It was peaceful and calming as Ryan clung to the slowly wilting flower in his – now very sweaty – hands, staring at the water to their right. Lance looked up and smiled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along gently towards the water.  
“Have you ever lived by the ocean before?” He asked, smiling back at a very flustered Ryan, amused by the dark blush on his face, and the surprised look accompanying it. He shook his head ‘no’ in response to Lance, who pulled him along faster now. “I wanna show you something, it’s the same place I used to go when I moved here. It reminds me of home.” He explained. “I used to live right beside the beach back in Cuba, so this is the best I could do,”  
Ryan saw what he meant, still following the tall brunet, and seeing the stone wall before the rocky beach in front of them. It provided a perfect view of the ocean laid out in front of them, making Ryan smile fondly. It was beautiful. As they sat together on the seawall the moonlight sparkled as it reflected off the restless waters, almost compensating for the lack of stars in the light polluted city. It was serene and peaceful, comforting Ryan and luring him into an ease he hadn’t had since he moved. The silence was soon broken by Lance, who had turned to the other with a bright smile.  
“So, did you grow up here?” He asked, already anticipating the way the other responded, which was no.  
“I lived in Arizona before this, not a lot of water but a whole lot of cacti and heat,” He said with a small laugh, before continuing on. “My parents got a better job opportunity here, so they took it. Better paying.” He explained, expositing stories upon stories of him and his friends. He talked about the old camera his Grandpa had given him before they left, and how he had already gone through a lot of memory, and was going to cut the footage down and send it back home. He then explained his love of films and filmmaking, and how he wanted to be a director one day. Lance listened raptly, hanging off every word the other said, enjoying it immensely. Ryan had seemed very quiet to him, but now he realized that he just had nobody that would listen. He had a lot to say, and nobody to say it to. And for Kinkade? It was just nice to be able to talk to someone finally. Have somebody understand and just listen without interruption, someone he trusted.  
It was a solid two hours by the time they were done talking, and Ryan actually took Lance home, both hesitating before his door, inches apart. They stayed there, hovering and contemplating anxiously before they both stepped back at the same exact time, looking away, flustered out of their minds.  
“That was nice, thanks for inviting me” Kinkade said awkwardly, blushing furiously and stepping away.  
“Thanks for coming with. See you around?” The other suggested, hand on the doorknob. As soon as Ryan nodded, they were both gone, Lance slipping into his house, closing the door behind him, and Ryan already halfway down their driveway. Ryan got into a lot of trouble for being so late, but in his mind it was worth it.

High school came and went, Lance’s years blowing past him until it was senior year. His last performance in school, and the last time he’d take a bow on the stage for the familiar yet older audience that grew up as the years went on. He had snagged a lead role, and totally nailed it, ending their final show with his best performance yet. He loved every second he was on stage, and as soon as he had given out all the roses to the tech crew, he found his friends huddled in the hallway nearest the parking lot. Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro and Allura, who were now in their second year of university and had come down to see the production. Lance however, still had a giant bouquet left. It was bright and colourful, and much more extravagant than the single roses he had handed out to every tech student. Everyone except for one last person.  
“Where’s Ryan?” He asked softly, tilting his head, smiling softly. Over the years, his techie friend had kept coming back to the play and rose up the ranks, becoming less cute and more attractive through the years. He had gotten taller, more muscular, and lost the braces this year finally. Needless to say Lance had definitely noticed the change, and enjoyed it immensely. He had fallen head over heels when he first met the geeky tech kid who was obsessed with videography, but it had only grown over the years, as both of them matured and assimilated into their respective groups, Lance with his friends, and Ryan finding his place with a similar band of friends, enjoying his time mostly with them, and talking with Lance frequently still. They had classes together, and they would talk if they saw each other in the halls, even texting one another. Still they didn’t really spend time together outside of school until this year, where Ryan helped Lance learn his lines and blocking for the musical they were doing this year.  
“He ran past to grab something from his car, why, wanna give him the flowers?” Pidge asked, jabbing a thumb behind them to gesture at the parking lot. Lance nodded, craning his neck to look behind them and see if he was coming back. “James and the other guys said they’d meet him at the diner,” she added helpfully. “You want us to give you some privacy?” she added suggestively, making Lance blush a deep shade of red as he spluttered nervously, much to the hilarity of Keith and Hunk.  
“Leave them be guys, come on, we’ll meet them there. Curtis is waiting anyways and we have a test next week so we need to study anyways,” Shiro said, smiling at Lance like a proud father, mouthing ‘Good luck’ over his shoulder as they left. Not two minutes after they disappeared, Ryan made his appearance smiled softly at Lance over a large bouquet of flowers as well. They both took a look at each other and started laughing, realizing the coincidence.  
“Ryan you know I always bring flowers!” Lance snickered, tears forming in his eyes as he tried to calm himself.  
“That’s why I brought these!” Ryan protested, in a similar state of amusement, his face red and stomach starting to ache from the laughing. They finally caught their breath and grinned at each other, exchanging bouquets. They stayed there for a while, silently smiling at their flowers, and quietly entangling their fingers, holding hands as they savoured the moment.  
“We should go catch up to the others,” Lance suggested reluctantly, prompting them both to go to Ryan’s car, still hand in hand, and set the flowers down in the backseat of the rickety old car. The radio was on as they drove, and Lance had turned it up, singing along happily to an old song his mama used to play all the time when they moved. Ryan laughed and joined in occasionally with prompting by the other. By the time they reached the diner they were in hysterics again, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. They walked in, hand in hand and were greeted by a chorus of “ooo”’s, their friends all sitting scattered within the diner. Shiro and his boyfriend were in a corner booth studying, still joining in the fun for a second, Hunk, Keith, and Pidge were together, and Allura and some guy they knew vaguely as Lotor from a neighbouring school were at a table together, and finally Ryan’s friends all sat in a group, but it felt like it was coming from everywhere. The two rolled their eyes and sat at a table together, ignoring Pidge and Nadia who were both making peace and quiet impossible. They didn’t stay long, though not because of Pidge or Nadia, deciding to escape to their hiding spot early, just to spend time together.  
It was cold on the shores, as they sat on the –even colder– concrete wall, dangling their feet over the edge. They sat much closer together at this point, Lance practically on Ryan’s lap. The moon reflected onto the water, the yellow light of the street light casting their own shadows onto the rippling water. The waves crashed against the rocks below, loud but making for peaceful ambient noise. They didn’t do much talking for a while until Lance broke the spell of quiet.  
“I can’t believe it’s done,” He sighed, Ryan nodding and wrapping an arm around him and nodding.  
“It feels like just yesterday we were sitting here for the first time ever, and I wouldn’t shut up,” He said, getting a chuckle from them both. “I heard that you got accepted to the NYU drama program,” He added after a brief moment of silence, a heavy sadness to his voice, but also a certain amount of pride to it as well. Lance nodded.  
“I move to New York in August,” He said solemnly. “What about you, did you get accepted to the American Film Institute?” He asked, part of him praying it was a no, considering his second choice was much closer than LA. The other part hoped he did, Ryan was good at what he did, he deserved to be there.  
“Yeah, I go in June to tour the school and I move in July.” The other said softly, frowning. They stayed quiet most of their time there, just clinging to one another, sad but also happy. They’d gotten into their dream schools, but it meant they wouldn’t be together again for a long time. They had grown incredibly close over the years and it’d be weird being involved in any productions without the other.  
They drove to Lance’s house, and got out, Ryan grabbing his flowers and handing them to the other at the doorstep. They looked into each other’s eyes quietly for several seconds, before they both leaned forward, and kissed. After four years of built up tension it was only a matter of time, and it was exactly what they both wanted as Ryan wrapped an arm around Lance’s waist, gently tugging him closer. When they finally separated, smiling like they’d just won the lottery, they just held fast to one another, collectively decided it was worth a try. They could figure it out if they worked together. It would be worth it in the long run, and they’d make it.


End file.
